The screen's too small to watch video comfortably. No Bluetooth or Wi-Fi.

Verdict

Slim, stylish and simple. But that's enough about us. The Sony NWZ-S639F is aslick MP3 player with equally slick audio

Launch Price

£110

Sony took a while to catch up with Apple in the digital music department, perhaps it spent so long waiting for everyone to convert to ATRAC, stored on a MiniDisc and synched via SoundStage. Now though, the NWZ-S639F, with its 40 hours of music playback and 16GB of storage, is reversing the tide.

First things first, the Sony NWZ-S639F’s audio quality is nothing short of stunning. You can forget your bass-lacking headphones that Apple dolls out with its iPods, it’s only the best from our Sony. The provided cans shoot bassy, crisp tunes from the Sony NWZ-S639F direct to your head balancers.

Second on the list: video. The Sony NWZ-S639F has a delightful two-inch colour display that supports WMV and MPEG-4. It’s sharp, too. It’s just a shame it’s only two-inches big, making the likes of Liam Neeson look like that short one from the Krankies.

That’s not the end of the goodness, either. Complementing the sharp screen like a drunk businessman complements a pretty waitress, is the incredibly smooth and fuss-free interface. It’s not quite iPod-easy, but it’s not far off. Then there’s the aforementioned battery life. We eked out nearly 40 hours worth before we had to attach this to the wall for some power guzzling.

The only downside, and this is us being really picky now, is that there’s no Wi-Fi or Bluetooth (unlike the Sony NWZ-A820). Also, the inability to expand the storage is a bit of a downer, but now we’re getting greedy. But forget those minus points, the Sony NWZ-S639F is a winner for its cracking audio and sickeningly good looks.